Improvement in magazine hbe-abms



H. F. WHEELER.

Magazie Gun.

Patented June 25, 1867.

*i dei@ gratte-@wtf @ffm n. F. Wiersma, or Bos'roN, Massnonnsnrra rigenman No. 66,110, dated June-25, 1867,

IMPROVEMENT 1N MAGAZINB'PIRBLARMSJ itin tigehuie nitriet in in timeettet @nicht mit mating lgnat nf the taime.

To ALL wHoM 1r MAY eononnn:

Be it kno'wn that I, H. F. WHEELER, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk,and State of Massachusetts, have invented an improved Breach-LoadingPistol; and I do hereby declare thatthe following, talcen lin connectionwith the drawings whichaccompany and form part of this specii'icatiomisa description of my invention'suiiicient to enahIetliOSe skilled in theart to practise' it. p

On the 7th of February, 1865, Letters Patent No. 46,286 were granpteditome for an improved breech- `loading pistol.- In such pistol there isshown a cartridge magazine arranged within the stock, frame, or handleofthe pistol, with lneohanisni by which, as one cartridge is tired andits shell removed, another cartridge is.

- brought into positionfor firing, `said pistol diii'eri'ng from allothers then known tome, in thata serie's et' can.

tridges was contained within that part of the arm'directly gra-sped bythe .hand inA discharging the piece, each cartridge beingin turnautomatically brought into position to be fired.;

vMy present invention relates principallyito the construction oi a.magazine pistol having this saniegeneial characterstiqbr to animprovement uponsuch patented pistol, which improvement consists in theconstruction relating tocontaining and holding `the cartridges in themagazine, and to lfeeding each in turn into position to trigger-ring e,(fined relatively ,te thel rin'g,)'while' the other, t

be tired. VThere is v.also shown in such patented pistol a slidingbarrel, which,"by being drivenhackexploded 'the cartridge; and in mypresent invention, and forming` part.` thereof, is anl improvement' infiring the cartridge by such rear movement 'of the barrel, the cartridgebeingheld in positon,fund the barrel being driver'ifagainstits ilange,in contradistinction totir'stvcarrying the cartridge into the breech ofthe barrel, and't her z.,frdr.iving:` v, imrreljtnd cartridgebask .totirethe.cartridgem i The drawings represent a magazine pistol embodyingthe invention,-A and 'B showing respectively a -plan and` aside 4view ofthe arm, with thebar'rel thrown out by thetrigger, and C and D similar'vieni., but Ashowing the' barrel driven back .by its spring. In all theviewsthe side plate covering the magazine and lock mechansm is removed,to show the interior construction, and at B the tube, in which thebarrel slides, is shown inv section.

l d denotes the frame of the pistol;V b,- the tube, in which the barrel'c is mounted and slides; the spring,l

`expansion of wltichidrivcs the barrel back to 're the cartridge; edenotes the trigger, hung onapin, in' the.

frame a, 'lhe triggcr-1ever g is composed 'of two partsor pieces z.A z',one ofrwhich, 1:,is an'extension from the.

near. its lower end, through which slot the pin f extends and having, ator neef its upper end,1`a pin, l, extend- Y ing through'a similar slot,`m, in the piece'h. At the'upper end of the slide-piece -is a swingingdog, catch,`.or

hook, n, hung' on' afpin, o, projectingfroin piece z', and through the.piece 'L' into aT horizontal groove or slot,p, in

, slides on this extension, having a. slot, k, at or'.

the frame a.` Therear end of this dog has a tooth, qyand'this tooth, bythe action of a spring,'r,is held n orl lnally up to the lower' surfaceof the barrel, the tooth slipping into a notch, s, in the barrel by theaction ofthe spring, whcnthetrigger-ie'ver is thrown back, the-eatchibeing` kept horizontal in its rear movement by the presence of the pin oin thegroove 71, the slots in the pieces t z" enabling, the levertdelongatc as it is pushed back. I When thepiece is discharged by therear movement of the barrel, and the trigger-lever is .thrown back byforward throw of the trigger, thepartsarelin the position shown 'at D.By new drawing the trigger back,

the tooth g. drives the barrel forward against its spring d, andas thestress of this spring (from its compression by 4the 'bar-rel) increases,the length of the trigger-lever decreases, or its operating point,namely, Athe tooth thisA brought nearer to the fulcrum f, therebyenabling thevbarrel to'.be moved withgequal facility throughout all itsmovement, the acting arm of thc `lever .shortening as the-'resistance ofthe spring increases. -The @el isn moved forward by the action ofthetrigger-lever, until the incline on :the front end of the catch nstrikes a pin,"

`t, and therebydepx-essesthe tooth `q,as seen at B, an'd vreleases thebarrel,A` whichisv driven back bythe actin of Y its spring. .4 l v y Y lf v The cartridge to be tired is not fed into the breech of the barrel,butisheld in position oppositeto 'and i centrally in lne'with' thebarrel, as monat- 13, and as the-barrel dies back,its;inov'enlenfcarricsfiit,oder 'the cartridge in such manner Vthatthecartridgeshall thenhe contained withinthojbarrel, or' in position. for'.tiring.

, l' The reanend ot'l'thel Ibarrel has a, point or. striker, u; which,vwhenthebarrel iiiesjback, strikes thel'ifnuer sidehf the cartridgeiiange,` exploding the `fulminate contained therein, land firing theeartridgefi-Thc cartridges are arranged withinfthe fr-ame, stock ,orhandle a of the pistol, as seen at B and D, and the handle, for thispurpose,

is extended right-angularly, or approximately so, to the. part oftheframe in which the barrel slides, as seen at' Band D, and so thatbyplaeing each cartridge horizontally therein, and the'severalcartridges parallel to each other, and simply moving them upwards, asseen at B und D, each will, in turn, be brought opposite to 'tl'iebarrel, or in position for firing. The vertcalchamber in which thecartridges are contained has, on one or li'th sides. the'rcof, a groove,r, for receiving thc-cartridge flange and keeping the cartridges fromendivise movement,

andiit also has,'on one or both side walls thereof, a strip of rubber orother friction surface, 1c', for sustaining the' cartridges inhorizontal position as eachis moved upwards.' Just in rear ,of `thegroove or grooves v is a. vertical ratchet or toothed har, r, placedcentrally in line with the cartridges, and resting at its rear sideagainst a spring, 1j, while on its front sidcor edgeit has a series ofteeth, 2, the upper edge of each of which Ais hori- Zonta-l or a littlehooking in lshape, while cach is inclined on its lower edge, as seen atB and D. The cartridgechainber' is open at bottoni for the insertion ofthe cartridges, which are pressed up into the chamber, and (when thechamber is filled) rest-with the shell of one upon the top of'eachtooth, as seen at B and D, the toothed bar giving way against its springas each cartridge in filling the magazine is pressed against the inclineof the tooth. This bar is connected by a link, n, with the trigger-pinthe trigger' end of the link lying in a depression, b, in thetriggerdever. I l

supposing the cartridge shown at l) as projecting from the end of thebarrel to have been `just exploded, as the trigger is ncxt carried back,(iinpelling thebarrel.forwards,) and near the last part of its hackmovement, the shoulder or wall forming the lower sido ot`- the recessb2, strikes the link a2, and'forcesit upwards, and its upward movementcarries withfit the toothed har .r, and with it the series ofcartridges, bringing the upper onel into line with the barrel, as seenat B, and crowding theshell ofthe exploded cartridge out at the top ofthe chamber, this shell being detained, as the barrel 'moves forward, bythe groove, in which its flange rests. The

barrel springs bach as thc upper cartridge is brought into line with thebarrel, and the rear movement of the trigger is completed, exploding thecartridge, as before explained. As the trigger. is next carried forwardbythe finger, theshoulder or wall at thciopposite side of the recessbz'strikes the link a2, and drives theV bara: downwards, (the cartridgeremaining stationary by the pressure of therubber or friction surfaces,)allowing the lower inclined edges of the teeth `to slip by the headsthereof, the downward movement of the bar being just snliicicnt to carrythe respective teeth from the position of each under one cartridge tangeto a similar position under the onencxt below it, so that at each pullback of the trigger to tire the piece, the bar lifts a fresh cartridgeinto position until all are discharged.' v l It will be obvious that thespecific construction andarrangcmcnt of the devices for operating thebarrel, and for feeding the 'cartridges into position, may be modifiedor varied, but I consider the construction and arrangement shoirnto besimple and practical, and-.such as will enable me to furnish a reliableand inexpensive magazine-loading pistol. The location of the magazine inthe stock, and the form of such stock, are such as not' to impair theshape of the arm', and by 4arranging the cartridges in the same verticalplane in which they fired, I am enabled to make the arl-rn very'short inproportion to the length of the barrel.

I claim a magazine pistol, in which the cartridges are arranged in avertical, or approximately vertical, chamber, forming the handle,substantially as shown and described.

2. I also claim effecting the movement of the cartridges to bring eachinto position to be fired, byl the vertical ratchet-bar x, carrying-thccartridges transversely to itself, substantially as set forth.

3. l also claim the flange groove or grooves, and friction surface o rsurfaces, for guiding and supporting the cartridges, substantially asflescribed.

4. I also claim the construction and arrangement ofthe expanding andcontracting trigger-lever, by which, as the resistance tothe forwardmovement ot' the-barrel increases, the length of the acting arm of thelever decreases,substantially,as shown anddescribed.

. H. F. WHEEBEBI' Witnesses:

F. GOULD, J. B. Cnos'nr.

